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Netflix Has Twice As Many US Subscribers As Comcast (allflicks.net)
An anonymous reader writes: You want to hear a staggering statistic? Netflix has more than twice as many U.S. subscribers as Comcast. Netflix USA writes, "According to [Comcast's] Q4 report, Comcast ended 2015 with 22,347,000 video subscribers. Netflix's own shareholder report listed their U.S. membership base at 44,740,000 strong. That's 100.2% more than Comcast -- a staggering statistic." It's impressive to see how quick the Netflix subscriber base has grown just in the past five years from around 20 million subscribers to nearly 45 million subscribers. What's also interesting to reflect on is the two different business models. Netflix USA writes, "Netflix makes its money off of a lot of subscribers paying about $10 a month each, while Comcast charges far fewer customers far more."
that we can cut these bastards off. But between news and sports, the things that we do watch just aren't available on any of these streaming sites.
...it's the other sharp edge of that two-edge sword called local monopolistic power. Sure, Comcast has exclusive markets, but that means they cannot go into other markets that are already taken up by some other cable ISP. Netflix has no such restrictions.
Doesn't matter though - Comcast is a, like most cable ISPs, a bag of dicks, so even at 1/4 the size, they'll do their level best to extort money from Netflix and anyone else that streams video for a living...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Netflix is three times the service for a fifth the price. Just shows what an incumbent provider, who is willing to bend break or flatout ignore deceny and the law can do.
Comcast is limited by physical constraints to the markets they're located in. Netflix is available to anyone with an Internet connection. I hate Comcast as much as the next poor soul that's bound to them simply based on their zip code, but this is like saying "penguins in the wild eat more fish than polar bears at the zoo"
Considering that I have to have Comcast's cable internet service before I can use my Netflix account. There aren't a lot of great options for me in this area, my experience with Netflix over DSL has not been good.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Except that cable (in your walls) has VASTLY greater bandwidth capacity than Ethernet! MoCA proves that, handily.
Perhaps you might reverse your argument; it would make better sense.
Why are you comparing these two companies? Netflix is a content provider. Comcast is a (cable and Internet) service provider. That's like comparing Amazon with the UPS.
If you have a co-ax wire (broadband) and you remove the hundreds of unicast TV channels from the line, you now have more spectrum available for two-way digital networking. It makes a lot of technical sense for cable TV to die at this point, and for the entire infrastructure to be repurposed as an internet provider.
Are you kidding? Is there some tiny bubble west of the lake that has magically bad service? Because I've lived all around Lake Washington and my internet has been stellar no matter what ISP I use.
I'll grant you that. I had 6 Mb/s here in rural California, and in the evenings (while my computers are backing up, using the internal wired network) traffic collisions frequently interrupted what I was watching on Netflix. However, I upgraded to 12 Mb/s ($10/mo more) and--No More Collisions...and a happy spouse, too!
You want to hear a staggering statistic? Magic Jack has more subscribers than Indiantown Telephone Company. It's hard to believe that Magic Jack, introduced in 2007, was selling nearly 10,000 units PER DAY whereas Indiantown Telephone Company, established in 1930, still hasn't managed to break the 10,000 subscriber mark, period!
Except your cellphone is voip too.
And the interconnects between carriers, exchanges, cell towers, and to other countries, IS ALSO ALL VOIP.
In more and more cases, carriers send voice using voip over the public internet now.
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
It's comparing Netflix USA and Comcast.
Around the world, Netflix has over 75 million subscribers, and it's only growing.
As a non-American who often hears of Comcast related issues, I hope Netflix paves the way for better competition and service in the US.
There's "cable" as in "the cable TV industry", there's "cable" as in "the programming on your cable TV connection that doesn't travel over DOCSIS", and there's "cable" as in "the communications infrastructure of the cable TV industry".
Given "There is no point in having completely separate network for watching video and another one for all other information.", I suspect the person to whom you're replying meant "cable" as in "the programming on your cable TV connection that doesn't travel over DOCSIS", i.e. "why doesn't the cable TV industry provide only IP to the home and run their programming over that"?
It sounds, from "cable (in your walls)", as if you're talking about "cable" as in "the communications infrastructure of the cable TV industry", and, in particular, the customer premises part of that infrastructure. In that case, what MoCA proves is that, with MoCA 2.5, you can get "up to 2.5 Gbps actual data rates". Is that really "VASTLY greater bandwidth capacity" than gigabit Ethernet?
Subtract 1 US Subscriber. Switched to HBO now.
Go tired of movies selections with descriptions of "Not to be confused with the Block buster..."
Grade B movies mostly with a smattering of current movies. Their "New Arrivals" have the same movies in that category for months on end.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Except your cellphone is voip too.
Only if either 1) it's LTE and VoLTE or 2) you're using a VoIP application rather than the "built-in" cellular phone service; the "built-in" cellular phone service is digital, but circuit-switched and not running over IP.
I live in Seattle in the city and I get 1Gbps service as does everyone else I know in Seattle. Maybe you should meet more people.
Honestly Comcast really doesnt have many subscribers as they piss off enough customers that even ones that have no other choice choose nothing over having comcast.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Give people what they want, on demand, at a reasonable price, without tying it to some other service people don't want and watch your userbase grow. Netflix has done a first class job on this score and comcast hasn't.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
What's even more impressive is they managed to get that many subs while steadily losing content from the major producers.
So you live in North Bend and work in Bellevue, and tell everyone you "live in Seattle"? Because that's the only plausible scenario unless you are simply lying.
Learn to love Alaska
You may want to check out Sling TV. Their basic package has ESPN, ESPN2, CNN, and quite a few other channels built into it for $20/month
In some areas, $20/month covers an upgrade from Internet-only service to a bundle of Internet and expanded basic TV service (including ESPN, ESPN2, CNN, and the like). Comcast, for example, calls its expanded basic TV service "Digital Starter".
For pretty much anything at a national scale, their content is available via their apps, their site
Yeah, once you "Please enter the username and password issued to you by a participating cable or satellite TV provider," which is the norm for "TV Everywhere" services nowadays. C-SPAN.org has already announced that it is going this way for its Washington Journal morning call-in show and everything else live except for the House and Senate floor coverage.
As for news, what are you getting that's any different than what you can get online or OTA for cheaper/free?
One presidential primary debate in 2016 has been on PBS. All the rest have been exclusive to cable.
How do you figure? Their shareholder report lists 74.76 million members at the end of the quarter, 43.40 million of which are US paid members (and 44.74 million total US members). They list 30.02 million international memberships. Do you think that many people would go through a US proxy to access Netflix?
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
I think you will find that a large number of those us subscribers are actually people in other countries.
Not this time. From the featured article: "for fairness’ sake we’ve left Netflix’s international subscriber figures out of this fight"
There is no point in having completely separate network for watching video and another one for all other information.
True, in the case of video on demand. But "channel"-oriented video, with many people in the same neighborhood watching the same programming at the same time, needs a separate network until the major ISPs figure out how to implement multicast rather than just firewalling it off.
Are you kidding? Is there some tiny bubble west of the lake that has magically bad service?
Seattle proper has zoning laws such that a supermajority of property owners must approve any new utility installation. A vacant property counts as a no vote, and an absentee landlord counts as a no vote. This leaves residents of affected areas with dial-up, which is too slow for video on demand; satellite, which has a monthly usage allowance too low for nightly video on demand; and fixed cellular, which has a monthly usage allowance comparable to that of satellite. Laws in suburbs may differ.
If I want to watch the Red Sox, or AMC where I live, I either watch them through Comcast, or not at all.
What did Comcast do to prevent DirecTV and Dish Network from carrying those channels?
Even though Netflix has twice as many subscribers, doesn't the average Comcast customer pay near $100/month? Compared to $10-$15 for Netflix.
I have Comcast now and actually have never really had an issue with them aside from how much they charge. And that when you drop a package from their Double or Triple play deals, you end up paying almost as much for one less...
A significant chunk of those Netflix subscribers are probably international and not US. I am US subscriber living in Aus, early last year Australia alone had over 300k subscribers going through the US (probably a lot lower now that they have released here, but many like myself did not move to Australian subscription), I suspect a lot of other countries have similar situations.
Maybe your provider sucks? I have used broadvoice for 12 years or so, and my home phone has the best quality voice compared to any cell phone. I rarely use it, but quality is not an issue.
that we can cut these bastards off. But between news and sports, the things that we do watch just aren't available on any of these streaming sites.
Not just news and sports, but they are targeting a different market segment, and are already being forced to be competitive. Much pricier, but you can select from a MUCH more impressive video library if you have cable than you can through Netflix or Amazon Prime.
I'm one block from the edge of Comcast and two from Wave.
And you know of nobody who lives more than one block from you? Remember the claim isn't that there are gaps, but that "I live in Seattle and don't know anyone with a connection fast enough to stream."
Learn to love Alaska
Netflix users pay what, about $10 a month? Comcast users pay about $60 - 200/month? What comparison is this.
Fast Federal Court and I.T.C. updates
So like dial-up? ;)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Is Netflix still not inserting third party ad content? If so, that would be the reason to use it over Comcast, no matter how much either of them costs...
I deal with Comcast for our internet service. Dealing with them is like dealing with the old Ma Bell. The problem just couldn't be on their end. So the latest, from a Comcast business account you couldn't reach Comcast aka Xfinity residential email servers. Showed them the traceroutes from our border device and it just dropping the connection. They wouldn't believe me until I took our network down to test at their border device. Of course I knew the IP's so I just modified it and sent it back to them.
It was a fucking ACL on the gateway. One that we did not ask for. Took two weeks and about a dozen emails and calls to get it fixed. Comcast sucks.
not NBC Universal. The point of OP's article is the comparison of subscribers between Netflix and Comcast. People who subscribe to Comcast want the service, whether it's cable to Internet. The fact that Comcast owns NBC is not very relevant here. No one says "I want to subscribe to Comcast to get NBC."
It's not like Netflix has to supply you with a physical connection to provide you with their services. It's just another website (with lots of capacity). Comcast has to install and maintain the cables and infrastructure to all of the buildings. Signing someone up to cable probably involves sending someone out for a visit while Netflix just collects some information to create an account with the billing information. Plus Comcast has a limited territory while Netflix is free to sign up anyone in the US so of course Netflix should have higher numbers.
I'm not defending Comcast but just pointing out that how they deliver content is completely different because Netflix has outsourced the delivery method completely while getting a package through a cable company includes it.